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Apple acquires the bulk of Intel's smartphone modem business for $1 billion

Apple has agreed to purchase the majority of Intel's smartphone modem business for $1 billion.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019, and will see Apple take on roughly 2,200 employees from Intel along with some of the company's equipment and intellectual property.

Once the move is finalized Apple will hold over 17,000 wireless technology patents, ranging from protocols for cellular standards to modem architecture and modem operation. Intel, meanwhile, will retain the ability to develop modems for non-smartphone applications like PCs and autonomous vehicles.

According to Apple senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji, the deal should speed up the development of future products, meaning iOS devs could be playing with some fancy new hardware sooner rather than later.

“We’ve worked with Intel for many years and know this team shares Apple’s passion for designing technologies that deliver the world’s best experiences for our users," commented Srouji.

"Apple is excited to have so many excellent engineers join our growing cellular technologies group, and know they’ll thrive in Apple’s creative and dynamic environment. They, together with our significant acquisition of innovative IP, will help expedite our development on future products and allow Apple to further differentiate moving forward.”